Cold
by The Weaver of Dreams
Summary: No matter how diligent Leo and his brothers were to protect their streets, it never seemed like it was enough. April hated them, Karai was trying to kill them, the Kraang plotted against them and to make matters worse, a powerful mutant arrived to destroy everything. Together, the brothers race to save their city from the forces that would leave New York ablaze with war.
1. Chapter 1: The Fire Rises

**Author's Note:**

Normally, I hate fics with OC characters. I've seen too many of them go the Mary Sue route and for that reason I swear off of them. With that said, the controversial writer in me couldn't help but want to use one of my personal OC's as a villain to pit them against the turtles. This fic' explores the events that Leo and his brothers endure when faced with an unnatural mutant that becomes the hinge for world destruction.

Enjoy!

 _Disclaimer: The events within this fic' don't follow cannon and are set loosely around season 2 of the TMNT 2012 series.  
_

* * *

 **Cold  
** Chapter 1: The Fire Rises

There they were. There were three of them below and each completely unaware to the vengeful teenage girl lurking above them in the dark shadows of the old warehouse firescape. A wicked grin maliciously quirked Morgana Wright's lips upward as she softly cracked her half-gloved knuckles. Those Purple Dragon punks would be eating street before the night was over, of that she was sure. No one, _no one_ , picked on her baby sister and got away with it. Not even a dangerous street gang with the combined intelligence of WonderBread. These punks were going to toast, literally.

With a teeth baring grin that darkly promised violence, Morgana vaulted over the grime blackened railing. Only the ear splitting squeal of the age rusted ladder served as warning as she plummeted down towards the unsuspecting thugs. By the time they were aware of her, it was too late. Morgana landed heavily on the broad back of one of the men, using her foot and weight to slam him down harshly onto the gritty back alley concrete, rendering him unconscious.

The two beer drowned goons on either side of her sloppily stumbled back in their drunken stupor, neither having the wits to react smartly to the sight of their unconscious gang mate. With a snort of arrogance, Morgana jumped towards the man to her right, kicking the side of his bulldogish head with her heel. The man to her left finally spurred into action with a sloppy charge towards her. It took little work to upset his already tottering balance and render him unconscious like the others with a kick to his chin and temple.

With a sneer Morgana ungracefully spat at her fallen enemies, cracking her knuckles again, this time in irritation. A punching bag would give a better warm-up than these pathetic goons. She finally had an excuse to dust off her abilities in a fight, to finally unleash herself, and her opponents could be taken out by a few lousy kicks. With a dismissive and frustrated snort, Morgana pushed open the steel door that lead into the abandoned warehouse.

The city may have abandoned the place, the Purple Dragons however had not. Upon entering, Morgana noticed several groups of shady looking men scattered throughout the expansive concrete room, all of whom paused their card games and plotting to slowly turn their heads to her as she confidently strode in with her chin lifted. To them, it was obvious she didn't belong to their mostly male gang- or maybe she just wasn't wearing any of their signature purple paraphernalia. No matter, Morgana thought with a shrug, she wasn't going for stealth anyway.

"Where's my sister's bracelet?" she yelled to the quieting room, her voice carrying an eerie echo through the poorly lit warehouse. The men looked to each other in arrogant amusement and many of them burst into mocking chuckles. At their scoffing, a fire of amusement burned in her charcoal eyes. If they wanted to underestimate her because she was a lone teenage girl, that was their problem- or rather, Morgana intended to make it their problem. The tips of her twitching fingers slowly increased in heat as her frustration rose. Not yet. These punks could all burn, and they would, but not yet. Morgana took several deep calming breaths, mentally counting backwards in an attempt to keep a lid on her volatile temper. Mari's bracelet. She needed to get Mari's bracelet.

"We don't have the bracelet girly." one of the men snickered to her left. Morgana's searing gaze looked to the man bold enough to address her. The thug was a foot taller and wider than she was. A normal girl would've been intimidated by the overgrown tattooed musclehead. Unfortunately for him, Morgana wasn't normal.

"Were you the one who jumped my sister today?" Morgana acidly accused as she turned to face the towering thug who stood several yards away from her. He fit Mari's description well enough, big, tall, ugly, and with an intricate dragon tattoo on his muscular forearm. Her sister hadn't lied about his rotten dumpster stench either.

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." he shrugged, lifting his palms casually in the air. As he rose his hand, Morgana glimpsed a faint sparkle from a piece of jewelry wound around the man's thumb. It was her sister's bracelet. "What's it to you?" He asked as he casually snubbed his too-many-times-broken nose with his jeweled thumb, deliberately mocking her with a daring challenge sparking like flint in his deeply inset eyes.

Challenge accepted.

With an echoing roar of rage, Morgana's legs ignited into a voluminous sphere of cerulean and white flames, as the concrete beneath her feet melted into a rippling pool of magma. Steam fissured rapidly from the splintering ground as she forced the substance to an unnatural boil. Ear splitting whistles and cracks accompanied the violent transformation as the quaking floor continued to melt around her.

The formally confident thug opposite her shrieked like a newborn with a wet-diaper as he clumsily stumbled backward onto his freshly dampened bottom. Without wasting a beat, Morgana surfed forward on a wave of newly formed magma and commanded it to encircle him. A tiring ache in her muscles reminded her how out of practice she was. It had been months since she last used her mutant abilities, and she was more out of shape than she realized. The thought only added to her compiled frustration and a grumbled curse burbled through her stress clenched teeth.

Mari always did accuse of her of overdoing things, and this was no different. Another swear sounded from under her breath as a electrifying cramp seized her calf, but with great determination, she managed to turn her wince of pain into a dark foreboding scowl.

With a shallow, pained breath that rattled her ribs, Morgana allowed the melted rock to cool as she manipulated around the thug. It would take far too much energy to keep the stuff heated and as much as she wanted to melt the dragons until they were a terrified puddle of piss, in her state, those goals were unreasonable. If this had been several years prior, keeping the magma continuously hot and pliable would have been child's play, but she was not the same girl she was back then.

The hyperventilating thug within the growing circle fearfully mewled like a cat thrown in a pool of water as he twisted his sweat drenched neck to watch the smoking molten rock rise to trap him. With him distracted, Morgana leapt from the ridge of her wave of the now cooling magma and landed onto the lip of the bowl of volcanic rock encasing the man. Without sympathy, she snatched his wrist and jerked him forward to push the bracelet upwards so it slipped off his thumb. His wide beady eyes met hers and a dark satisfaction settled in her chest as she registered the chilling fear in them. The fear of her opponent was a heady drug that did little to shrink her ego. With a life than normally left her powerless, to once more experience this rush was far from incredible.

It was divine.

After a moment to savor the exhilarating high that her power brought, Morgana slipped the pink jeweled bracelet snuggly onto her wrist.

"W-what are you?" stammered the thug as he pointed a shaking accusatory finger in her direction.

Her brow twitched to a borderline hysteric scowl as she turned her molten gaze to glare at his shivering face. Once more her lips quirked upwards with a dry humorless smile. "A monster." she answered hoarsely, unable to keep the cynical pain that accompanied the age old label.

Then, with a flick of her wrist, Morgana reheated the stone until it encased the man fully until it formed into an ominous black stone egg. Within the rock the man began to scream, more out of fear than anything. Morgana rolled her eyes in annoyance at his pathetic protests. He was trapped, but he wasn't dying. Long ago she resolved to refrain from killing. With her abilities, such an act would be as easy as breathing.

To ensure the guy wouldn't suffocate from the noxious fumes Morgana opened a line of fist sized holes on the surface of the stone egg, allowing his shrieks for help to reverberate through the fear silenced room. Morgana lifted her wrist to inspect the bracelet, if only to give her overworked muscles a chance to momentarily recoup. The bracelet was hers, and with the show she gave them, these thugs probably wouldn't bother her or her sister again. That was good enough. The magma pooling at her feet cooled as did the embers that once encased her. After a quick glance over at herself, she quickly found the singe marks on the sleeves and hem of her fitted black T-shirt in addition to the burned fabric of the cuffs on her khaki cargo pants. With an inward groan, Morgana noted that she was _definitely_ out of practice.

After a sulky frown at the degradation of her abilities and less than satisfactory performance, Morgana walked through a thick cloud of soot rich smoke and by manipulating the hot air, forced the ash clouds to billow ominously around her. The display was meant to intimidate but also to distract her onlookers from her stiff movements and soft limp.

Her tiring magma abilities wouldn't be worth a FriendSpace like if all 50 something guys in the room decided to gang up on her. Morgana may have been rash, but she wasn't stupid. She knew her limits–

"Y-you think you're going to get out of here alive?" stammered one pitifully brave soul.

– _thought_ she knew her limits.

Darkly, she tilted her cheek in his direction letting her lengthy tic-tac-orange hair hide her unfocused expression. "If you ever bother my sister or my family again..." she threatened acidly as she raised her palm to face one of the cranes against the wall. For a moment, nothing happened and worry briefly seized her thoughts when she couldn't sense any heat infiltrating the worn metal. However just as time painstakingly crawled to the point of embarrassment, the steel crane began to gradually glow like the heating eye of an electric stove.

The melting bolts holding the crane up groaned as it started to tip forward towards the ground. The thugs yelled to one another as scrambled with haste to escape the path of the drooping molten metal. The crane fell with a deafening crack as it shattered the concrete floor, effectively separating her from the gang. With a last push of strength that caused her knees to buckle, Morgana forced the steel to melt until it turned searing white with enough heat to ignite any nearby crates, paper or other flammable surface. The thugs shouted and shrieked, many of them staring at her with bowel wrenching terror in their slackjawed expressions. Her work here was done.

Upon stepping outside, a cool summer night breeze brought fresh air to her sulfur filled lungs. A rattled sigh sent a thick cloud of steam through her lips. Morgana watched tiredly as it dissipated, only to be replaced by the steam rolling from her cooling skin. With the intake of fresh air, Morgana realized she smelled like rotten eggs jammed into a smokestack at a steel mill.

A choked laugh at her luck and lack of foresight sent pain like thousands of needle pricks through her overworked limbs. Between the steam, the smell, and the burnt edges of her clothes there was no way she'd be able to travel safely through the streets without question. There was also no way she'd be able to hide her excursions from her ever watchful mother.

After a moment of rest, Morgana chose to gingerly work her way up the firescape to travel via rooftop. Thankfully the buildings were close enough that such travel was possible and from what she could tell, there already was a highway of sorts already established between the buildings made with boards, poles and other common hardware items.

Her watch beeped noisily on her wrist and alerting her to her impending curfew. An audible groan escaped her throat. In her sorry state, it would be impossible to get home before 10pm. At this point there was an extremely high risk of being grounded. Morgana lifted her wrist to view the sparkling bracelet. A warm grin of satisfaction brightened her cooling cheeks.

Grounded, but worth it.


	2. Chapter 2: Where There's Smoke

**Author's Note:**

Normally, I hate fics with OC characters. I've seen too many of them go the Mary Sue route and for that reason I swear off of them. With that said, the controversial writer in me couldn't help but want to use one of my personal OC's as a villain to pit them against the turtles. This fic' explores the events that Leo and his brothers endure when faced with an unnatural mutant that becomes the hinge for world destruction.

Enjoy!

 _Disclaimer: The events within this fic' don't follow cannon and are set loosely around season 2 of the TMNT 2012 series.  
_

* * *

 **Cold  
** Chapter 2: Where There's Smoke...

It was the perfect night. One of those nights where the temperature evened out to comfortably warm with a mild breeze. The moon was new and shrouded the flat New York rooftops in near palpable darkness. Between the perpetual shadows and quiet streets, it was the perfect night to be a ninja.

A deep breath of satisfaction filled Leo's lungs as he and his brothers leapt from rooftop to rooftop. It was so freeing to be out of the sewers to traverse the human world freely. Well, as long as freedom was defined with words like 'stealth', 'hidden', 'unseen', and 'unheard'. Leo liked to believe that their secrecy was because they were ninja and not because they were mutant turtles. He wasn't naive by any means concerning the danger of exposure, but where hiding because of his appearance stemmed from fear, hiding because he was a ninja stemmed from purpose. Leo preferred purpose over fear any night.

"Yo Leo. You might want to see this." Raph called to him, his voice just barely carrying over the summer breeze. Leo joined him and his brothers at the edge of the roof and looked down onto the nearly deserted street below to find a group of men loitering suspiciously near a dark alley. They were murmuring amongst themselves and watching an approaching business man like a wolf would a three legged doe.

"Are those guys Purple Dragons?" Donnie asked with an exasperated groan.

"Again?" Mikey asked his groan echoing Donatello's. "This is like, the fifth group this night!"

"You're holding up six fingers Mikey." Donatello noted dryly with a raised brow ridge.

"Well, it's the sixth day we've been dealing with them so..." Mikey reasoned hastily.

"Nice save calcu-loser" Raph smirked as he stepped forward to put a foot on the ledge of the roof.

"Shaddup!"

"Easy guys." Leo placated before the squabbling could get out of hand. "Something's not right-"

"Ya-think?" Raph asked motioning his palm towards the guys on the street who had now pressed themselves against the wall as the man drew closer. "They're nowhere near their own turf! Whad're they doing? Declarin' war on every gang in the city? "

"I don't think it's war..." Donatello mused softly. "They aren't coordinated enough for that."

"Maybe they got bored of being in their own turf all the time. I know I do." Mikey offered.

"Something about that sounds right." Leo agreed.

"Really?" Mikey exclaimed, surprised that for once he was right about something. "I'm mean, course' I'm right; I know stuff."

"Maybe not bored, but maybe something happened on their turf." Leo continued, ignoring Mikey's hasty save.

"Like what, their leaders had some sort of argument and left their wet-nosed lackeys to figure things out for themselves?" Raph asked with part sarcasm and part suggestion.

"An issue with leadership can cause kingdoms to fall or scatter." Donnie noted with a nod. "Maybe that was it."

"Regardless of what happened, we need to get to the bottom of this." Leo concluded.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Asked Raph as he crossed his arms over his broader chest.

"We're going to go to their lair and talk to their leader." he decided, looking to each of his brothers. Donnie nodded, Mikey gave him a thumbs up, Raph punched his palm with a wild grin upturning his cheek.

"No complaints here." Raph said with an overjoyous shrug. Leo met his brothers enthusiasm for danger with a knowing smirk.

"But first, how about we deal with those guys down there first?" Leo asked. His answer was his brothers leaping over the roof to engage the now thieving gang-men below.

Normal. Life for once was beautifully normal. There were no mutants, no Kraang, just human teens who were just like her. Well, sort of like her. Most teens probably didn't have a mutant bat as a dad, but aside from that and her past affiliations, April O'Neil considered that life was decidedly normal.

Just as she finished scrawling the last answer to her math problem a familiar body dropped into the chair in front of her desk. April raised her emerald eyes to find the grinning freckled cheeks of Casey Jones along with his amused eyes.

"Hey there Red." he greeted with a toothless grin. "Miss me?"

"I was tallying the seconds until I could see you again." she remarked, her words soaked in sarcasm.

"I bet you were." he said as he picked up her sheet of scratch paper, noting her tally marks.

"Casey you're holding it upside down." April said, trying to sober her amusement lest she offend him. Good tutors didn't harass their mentee just because they did something wrong.

"You sure?" he asked. "It all looks greek to me."

"It's math."

"Same thing." he shrugged. "Anyway, you ready to go? Thought I'd be the responsible boyfriend and carry your bag."

"Who said you were my boyfriend?" April asked with a raised brow as she leafed the page in her textbook and closed it.

"You're only picked for the team if you can impress the coach." he winked as he helped her put her overly large textbook into her bag before slinging it on his shoulder. "But the game doesn't start at the buzzer, it starts in training."

"I'll keep that in mind when I need to pick a player." April smiled as they exited the empty classroom to head towards the library.

"Guess that means I'll have to work hard so I can make the team."

At that, April blushed softly and tucked her hair behind her head. The warm fuzzy feelings however were disrupted at the sound of ecstatic chants in the hall.

"Is that a-"

"Fight?" Casey offered with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Sounds like one." he said as he pulled her forward. As they rounded the corner they found a small group of teens surrounding two girls. Several teachers rushed to the scene to separate them.

"Hey isn't that the new girl?" Casey asked, pointing to the red haired girl who currently was slamming her fists into the face of one of the popular girls who was inefficiently trying to fight back. The new girl's punch missed and slammed into the metal locker with enough force to leave a caving dent in it.

"Whoa." Casey breathed, his amusement leaving him at the sight of the force. "That chick could do some real damage..." No sooner had the words left his mouth did Casey step forward to intervene. April would have stopped him, but she knew he could handle himself in a fight and the inexperienced teachers looked like they were struggling to get the new girl under control.

Not one to be left behind, April darted forward with her steel fan in hand. As she drew closer, she got a good look at the damage and realized Casey was right for intervening. Popular girl Brittany Beckham would never win a beauty contest again after this beating. April went to Brittany, doing her best to sober her horror at the sight of the girl's blood dripping face.

"Don't have anything to say now do you, you prissy little stuck up snot?!" barked the girl as she wrestled against Casey's pinning hold. He had her arms held securely behind her, but judging by the strained look on his face, even he was struggling.

"Get her away from me!" Brittany whimpered in horror as she clung to April's arms. Despite Brittany's reputation for being a toxic gossip loving manipulator, even she didn't deserve this kind of beat down. April sighed as she led the girl away towards the nurse's office.

It was hours before she found Casey again. By then, Brittany's parents had arrived to scream lawsuit and prison towards her attacker. Not wanting to be any more apart of the drama than she needed to be, April left to find Casey in the library.

"How long were you waiting here?" April asked tiredly as she plopped down into the seat across from him at the study table. Casey was slumped back in his seat with his eyes shut.

"Not long." he sighed. "That new girl, Morgana, she's definitely a fighter."

"Did you find out what happened?"

"Naw." he shrugged. "By the time we dragged her to the principal's office she cooled off and shut up. The girl wouldn't say a word, just glared all evil like. Rumor is Brittany said something and the new girl went berserk."

"That I'm not surprised about. It was only a matter of time until Brittany got what was coming to her. So what do you want to do now? You up for studying?"

Casey shook his head. "Not really. Embarrassed to say, but I'm tuckered out."

April nodded before lowering her eyes only to spot his reddened fingers. She leaned forward to take his hand in hers when he suddenly winced.

"Ow!" he hissed sharply as he shot forward to take his hand from hers.

"Casey what happened? Were- were you burned?" she asked with a shocked frown.

"I think so?" he answered unsurely. "When I was pinning her arms behind her, Red, her skin was hot. Like, _really_ hot. I'm wondering if she had acid or something on her gloves."

"Well it did look like a dirty fight..." April nodded. It didn't happen much in her school, but she had heard of people using blades, lighters and other stuff in fights to give them the upper hand. If the girl cracked open a battery and spread it on her gloves, that could be the cause to the redness on Casey's hands.

"I'm sorry Casey." she said as she turned her palms down on the table. "How about I treat you to a milkshake?"

"What for?" he asked with a confused expression on his brows. "You didn't do anything."

"Well, every good coach needs to take care of their players, even potential ones." April said quietly, keeping her eyes on her fidgeting fingers on the table. "And right now you need some care."

At his quiet, April found the courage to look up to his softened yet humored expression. "Lead the way coach." he said with an infectious lopsided grin.


	3. Chapter 3: Enter the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

For all my science-y readers, I apologize in advance for my butchering of your favored field of study. :-D

 _Disclaimer: The events within this fic' don't follow cannon and are set loosely around season 2 of the TMNT 2012 series.  
_

* * *

 **Cold  
** Chapter 3: Enter the Dragon

Leo and his brothers leapt from rooftop to rooftop until they approached the Purple Dragon's warehouse. Master Splinter warned them last night to approach the situation with the utmost care. In his words even a "King of Fools" could be dangerous. He advised them saying that if the tension increased between his brothers and the dragons, the Purple dragons may see them as a greater threat and act accordingly by making he and his brothers their primary target.

It was a warning that Leo intended to heed.

"So what are we going to do when we get there?" Raph asked with a frown. "Somehow I don't think asking 'Hey Purple Dragons, please stop breaking the law,' is going to work on these dunderheads."

"We'll approach the situation with stealth." Leo advised. "We'll observe first, regroup and decide action from there. We need to know what they're up to."

"Just curious, what if they're not conveniently chatting about their current plotting?" Donnie asked hypothetically. "What then?"

"We'll figure it out." Leo answered firmly as they slowed to walk to the edge of the roof to peer down to the warehouse. What they found was completely unexpected.

"What're the Kraang doing here?" Mikey asked with a frown as he observed the dozens of Kraangbots patrolling the warehouse.

"The Purple Dragons got punked by a bunch of Kraangbots?" Raph asked, his confusion evident. "What do the Kraang even want with the Purple Dragons?"

"That's a good question." Leo agreed. "We'll move in from the roof. Our mission is reconnaissance. We need to figure out why they're here."

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Donnie noted.

Leo nodded before leading the way across the rooftops to the warehouse. They entered silently through the skylights and found suitable perches atop a supporting metal beam that ran across the ceiling. The place reeked of smoke and Leo could only guess that there had been a serious fire. The scorch marks on the concrete walls only confirmed his suspicions.

"Donnie what do you think?" he asked as he watched his brother take a sample of the soot from the metallic beam. The weird gadget in Donnie's hand blinked haphazardly as data streamed quickly across the bluish screen.

"It looks like a fire, but my analyzer is picking up traces of sulfur." he murmured in puzzlement.

"Which means..."

"Leo, sulfur is predominantly present with volcanos, not the common electrical fire." he clarified with a shake of his head.

"But there aren't any volcanoes in New York."

"Exactly." Donnie breathed, his confusion evident. If his intelligent brother couldn't figure this out, Leo had no hope that he could.

"Hey guys check it out." Mikey announced softly, pointing to a group of Kraangbots below. They were circling what looked like a melted crane as well as a giant black oval with a cracked side.

"What is that?" Raph whispered with a frown.

"It looks like an egg..." Donnie noted.

"Well, we won't know for sure if we stay up here." Leo said firmly as he dropped down to attack the Kraang. Almost an hour later, he and his brothers finally had taken out the last Kraangbot. A van full of them went into retreat, but in their haste left their equipment for Donnie to gleefully to hack into.

Leo was used to seeing the abnormal. Technically, he and his family qualified for the description when compared to normal human society. However, to see a giant sculpturesque egg like dome within the base of the Purple Dragons went far beyond abnormal. It was downright strange.

"W-what did this?" Leo breathed as he circled the thick porous rock running his fingers across the gritty surface as he did so.

"Maybe they tried to redecorate." Offered Mikey as he circled the dome, poking his head into the side that had been cracked open.

"I don't think they're in to modern art." Donnie said dismissively as he approached the object. "It appears to be made of several elements, as if they were all melted simultaneously and sculpted together."

"Don't look like no art to me." Raph grunted as he looked down at the unnatural ripple on the ground. "Look, there's some kind of trail startin' from the door."

Donnie paused his inspection and followed the odd waves of warped concrete and steel to a central point where Raph stood. Leo followed close behind him with equal curiosity. Donatello dropped to his haunches and tentatively touched the smooth wavy surface.

"Looks like whoever did this is rad surfer." Mikey noted as he inspected one of the more wave like formations of the hard substance.

"Guys I think we might have a problem." Donnie breathed. "Between the porous rock and traces of sulfur, this stone was once magma."

"What magma looks like this?" Raph asked as he dropped to his haunches to poke the wave Mikey was standing on.

"Look guys, I'm a surfer!" he grinned as he stretched his limbs as if to maintain his balance.

"Mikey get off of that before you break it." Donatello scolded. with a disapproving frown. "That's evidence."

"Aw I won't break it." he reassured, stamping his foot atop the surface. "This thing is hard as a–"

As if on cue the tip of the stone wave cracked sending Michelangelo plummeting to the ground with a yelp.

"I guess that's what you call a wipe out." Raph noted with a smirk as he gave Mikey a hand up.

"Anyway." Donatello continued theatrically with a role of his eyes. "With the evidence given this definitely looks like magma and you're right. Magma doesn't mold or cool to look like any of these waves. So in theory, this had to be caused by something else. A mutant maybe?"

"A mutant, that can manipulate magma?" Leo asked searching Donnie's eyes for confirmation.

"If I'm reading the evidence right, then yes. I mean, it makes the most sense. There's no way an ordinary fire could melt that crane over there or the ground. Also judging by how the rock is formed, it looked like it was molded somehow. That would require some degree of intelligence. I can only think of a mutant as an explanation."

A hard frown darkened Leo's face. The fact that the Kraang were interested in such a mutant bothered him to no end. It was unclear what they would do with a mutant of that power, but Leo had no doubts that sooner or later it would spell trouble for he and his brothers.

"Donnie, did you find out anything on the Kraang's computer?"

Donnie shook his head with a saddened no. "The information is so sparse, I don't think even the Kraang fully know what this is. All I can find are notes about a missing experiment. There's something about the government, the CIA, but that's it. Oh wait- they have information about finding similar sites across the US, but nothing about what caused it."

"So let me get this straight, the Kraang are hunting down a mystery mutant, and they don't even know what it is?" Raph asked with strong skepticism. "That doesn't make sense."

"There are notes here about another mutant." Donnie noted. "Something called Project Ice. The notes here though are limited too, but from what I gather, Project Ice was an ice mutant."

"Wow, never would have guessed that from the name." Raph said dryly. His comment was met with an equally dry stare.

"So the Kraang are trying to find an ice and magma mutant. Great." Leo said with a shake of his head. "We need to find the thing that did this, before the Kraang do."

"Uh," Mikey interrupted with a raised finger of caution. "What if he's not friendly? I'm all for kicking butt and everything but wouldn't this thing just roast us? How would we fight it?"

"I suppose it is possible..." mused Donatello. "This thing can possibly produce class D fires, so in theory a sodium-chloride or copper solution could potentially neutralize the fire. However if it can manipulate the atoms within a substance to melt it then–"

"English Einstein." Raph grunted, giving Donnie a gentle smack to the back of his head.

"We could probably fight it with fire extinguishers or water." Donnie surmised flatly.

"Good. Donnie, I want you to research into some new tech that would help us fight this thing if it comes to blows." Donnie nodded his agreement to his assignment. "Raph, you and I can investigate things topside."

"What about me?" Mikey asked in a near whine.

"Mikey, I want you to look up any articles related to unexplained fires or melted stone or metal. I want to be sure that this thing isn't actively attacking civilians"

"Aw, why do I have to be stuck reading? I could go topside too!"

"Quit your moaning Mikey." Raph grouched. "The last time you went stealth, you forgot to put your T-phone on silent. Blew our cover and nearly got us killed."

"But Raph, 'What does the fox say?'" Mikey asked cheekily with a wide grin.

With a heavy sigh, Leo realized there wasn't enough time in the night to deal with all of the issues they faced. He could only hope that Splinter would be able to provide clear direction rather than his usual cryptic lessons. Leo had as much hope in that as he did for Karai ever seeing eye to eye with him.


	4. Chapter 4: Out of the Frying Pan

**Author's Note:**

 _Disclaimer: The events within this fic' don't follow cannon and are set loosely around season 2 of the TMNT 2012 series.  
_

* * *

 **Cold  
** Chapter 4: Out of the Frying Pan

Karai strode forward with purpose into the Kraang's base, with foot-bots flanking her sides. In her father's absence, there was much to be done concerning the defeat of the turtles. If the new android the Kraang were developing for her failed she needed a contingency plan, and if what the Kraang had told her was true, there was one available.

"Kraang welcomes the one known as Karai into the base of Kraang." greeted one of the suited bots. "Kraang wishes to speak to Karai about the capture of the one known as April O'Neal and defeat of the turtles."

"Well get on with it, I don't have all day." Karai demanded sharply as she entered the development room to view the android. It's construction as far as she could tell was progressing smoothly.

"Kraang needs the help of the one known as Karai to use her government affiliations to locate a mutagen experiment that the government stole from Kraang."

"An experiment?" she asked, placing a hand to her hip. "What kind of experiment?"

"Years ago Kraang sent ambassadors to befriend the humans known as scientists. The scientists offered insight to Kraang about the planet known as Earth. Together with Kraang, the scientists produced a synthesized mutagen that proved to be unsuccessful for the Kraang's purposes."

"So you want me to find a failed experiment? How will this help me achieve my goals in eliminating the turtles?" Karai asked with narrowed eyes.

"The experiment that was made by the scientists, proved unsuccessful by the standards of Kraang. However using the synthesized mutagen the Kraang found a different purpose through experimentation. The results of our experimentation known as Project Ice have been lost to the ones known as Kraang due to the interference with the ones known as the C.I.A. Up until now, the ones known as Kraang thought it hopeless to reclaim the lost experiment."

"And why do you think it can be found now?"

"Kraang believes that the second experiment that was known to be deceased is in fact living."

"Wait, now there's a second experiment?" Karai asked with a frown.

"That is correct. The second experiment known as Project Ash was thought to have failed to survive the procedures implemented by Kraang. The ones known as Kraang believe that there may be a 70% chance that Project Ash survived based on the data found by Kraang."

"So you want both mutants." Karai surmised.

"That is correct. The collection of both Ice and Ash will serve purpose to capture the April O'Neal and destroy the turtles."

Now this sounded useful. An ice mutant and from what it sounded like, a possible fire mutant too? Her father would be most pleased to learn that she had acquired them as allies for him. With a wicked gleam in her eyes, Karai regarded the Kraang with a hopeful smirk.

"What do you need from me?"

"So Red, any chance you'll just give me the answers for the test?" Casey asked as he turned to walk backwards in front of her. His arms were laxly hooked around the hockey stick atop his shoulders as he eyed her with an expression of confidence that almost made her give in to his request.

Almost.

"Not a chance Casey." April smirked. "You're going to have to study just like the rest of us."

"But studying isn't for people like me." he answered. "I'm a man of action. Books just ain't my thing."

"Oh I kno-" Her trained eyes suddenly caught shadowy movement atop the rooftops and April's heart froze momentarily. Had it been the turtles? No. If they didn't want to be seen, they wouldn't be. But there was something, or someone on the rooftops...

"You alright Red?" Casey asked as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Uh-yeah...I just um... thought I saw... something." she excused lamely as she tucked a hair behind her ear. Casey turned his head to follow her line of sight.

"I don't see nothin'" he murmured before sliding his eyes curiously back to her.

"M-must have been the wind." she said, even though the air was stiller than an empty pond. The itch that _something_ had passed didn't let her rest, but she forced the idea of investigating from her mind. Normal. She needed be normal. No Kraang. No Turtles. No Foot. She needed to be normal.

"I guess..." he said before shrugging. "Anyway, when can I see you again?"

Was it normal for her heart to flutter at the thought of seeing him again? Of that April wasn't sure. What she was sure of was his awareness of his effect on her. Casey took a step forward and ducked his head an inch to catch her eyes.

"Um, what about Saturday?" she offered, averting her eyes from his. "I don't have any plans yet so-"

"Saturday's perfect." Casey grinned. "No books though."

"No books." she agreed. Again her eyes were drawn to movement on the roof and once more she craned her neck to look. Casey straightened his posture and looked to the rooftops.

"That don't look like wind to me." he said with narrowed eyes.

"I'm sure it's nothing..." April excused, hoping to keep Casey out of her personal issues. He tilted his head towards her with a mischievous look in his eye that made April groan inwardly.

"How about we turn into some 'meddling kids' and go investigate?"

"Casey no. I think it's safer if we just-"

Her words choked as he took her hand in his and tugged her forward. "Come on Red. You're with Casey Jones. You don't get much safer than that." he grinned looking back at her over his shoulder. April was sure her cheeks were as red as her hair.

"One look." she agreed, praying that it wasn't the turtles. She didn't have the resolve to face them yet, not after what happened to her father...

Using the techniques that Splinter taught her, April followed silently behind Casey surprised at his inherent stealthiness. Suddenly he stopped at the corner of a brick building and dropped to a crouch. His hand stretched out, encouraging her to stay pressed against the wall.

"Check it out." he murmured as he pointed with his thumb towards the scene around the corner. April leaned forward, placing a hand on his sturdy shoulder for balance. Kraangbots. There was no mistake of them.

"We should go." April said quietly.

"What are those feds doing?" Casey asked softly as he stood to press his back against the brick wall. "It looks like some sort of science-y place."

April leaned forward for another look. "Ailerex Bioengineering..." what did the Kraang want with a biological lab? A heavy frown weighed on her lips. If the Kraang were on the move, she didn't doubt that sooner or later it would affect her too. Unfortunately, April could only think of only one group who'd be able to upset the Kraang's plans. With a heavier sigh, April stood and turned to walk back.

"Red, where ya goin'?" Casey whispered as he shuffled behind her.

"To make..." she trailed off closing her eyes to find her fleeting resolve. "I need to make a phone call."

—

Morgana flipped tiredly through her algebra book. No matter how much she stared at the page, understanding refused to follow. Her teeth absently ground the eraser in her mouth, and after several minutes she gave up and fell backwards against her bed to stare at the plain white ceiling of her bedroom.

"No luck?" asked her sister Mari from her own bed where she worked on her own homework. Morgana turned her head to look at her fourteen year old sister. Mari was a miniature replica of their father with her wavy auburn hair and thick brows.

"I'm not in the mood for homework." Morgana grunted, flopping an arm over her eyes. Mari lifted her chin to face her with a raised brow.

"Stop sulking." she chided. "I hate when you're moody."

"Easy for you to say." Morgana countered. "You're not grounded for life."

"It's only a month Morgi." she reasoned with a tinge of sympathy in her tone.

"Only?" she challenged wryly to her sister's chagrin.

"Good point." Mari conceded with a nod. "We need to work on your stealth."

"It wasn't my stealth, it was my smell." Morgana corrected with a wave to her person as if to point to the non-existent stench waves that once clung to her.

"Yeah well, you gave yourself away with that one." Mari snorted with a grin. "Really should have gone with the smoking alibi."

"Mom stopped believing that one years ago." Morgana shrugged as she sat up. "Thanks though, for trying to cover for me."

"The good it did." Mari sighed with a headshake. "Seriously though, why'd you need to go all Pompeii on those jerks? Couldn't you have just used your awesome Taekwondo skills?" Mari chopped the air for emphasis on the martial art.

"What fun is that?" Morgana asked as she reopened her algebra book. Unfortunately, her homework wasn't going to do itself. "Besides if I hadn't punked them, they would have vowed revenge and then where would you be?"

"Why do you assume they'd come after me?" Mari asked with a raised brow.

"Do you really think they'd come after me?" Morgana asked dryly, matching her sister's dulled expression brow for brow.

Mari sighed dramatically at her sister. "Well at least have a good attitude about it. You got grandma's bracelet back, and fixed it so those gang punks won't bother us till we're 90. That's something to be proud of."

"I'm grounded for being what I am." Morgana replied stonily. "Don't see too much joy in that." Mari had nothing to do with her bitterness, but when Morgana found herself in a mood, everyone suffered.

"What you need to do is have a spare set of clothes that don't smell like smoke." Mari concluded.

"What about the smell of my hair and my temperature?"

"Go bald, and cold shower." Morgana fixed her sister with an exasperated stare. Mari merely shrugged her shoulder as she continued to write. "It's just a suggestion."

"It would be better if I didn't have to hide in the first place."

"That would be ideal." Mari agreed as she dug into a bag of popcorn kernels and threw one at Morgana's head. Just before the seed could strike her skin, Morgana lifted a hand and expelled a wave of heat, forcing the kernel to combust into a puffy white piece of popcorn. She popped the crunchy morsel into her mouth.

It needed salt.

"Well, I think you're cool." Mari said before she returned her attention to her homework. A moment of silence passed between them before Morgana spoke.

"Not hot?" she offered as she absently chewed the eraser of her pencil. Math wasn't really her favorite subject and the longer she stared at the problems the more confused she became.

"Nah." Mari shrugged as she tossed several more kernels at her, each of which effortlessly turned into popcorn as the neared her. "See, that's cool."

"Microwaves and stoves can do the same thing."

"You're not either of those." Mari pointed out. "You're human."

A haunted look floated through her eyes. "Am I?" Morgana asked quietly, her brows quirking into a frown. This wasn't the first time she questioned her humanity. She looked human, but what kind of person could create lava and withstand its deathly fire? "Mom thinks I'm a monster."

"Cut it out." Mari grumbled as she flung a handful of kernels at her. Most of them popped, but the few that didn't pelted Morgana's face like sand in a windstorm.

"Hey!" Morgana yelped as she lifted her arm to shield her face from the assaulting seeds.

"That's what you get for being mopey." Mari said unapologetically before blowing a raspberry.

"That's it." Morgana said threateningly as she leapt from her bed to her sister's, pinning Mari down with her legs as she mercilessly tickled her.

"Haha-Morgi-stop! I can't breathe!" Mari chuckled as tears beaded in her eyes.

"You started it!" Morgana grinned as her fingers found her sister's sensitive armpit. Mari howled in laughter trying to twist away from Morgana's grasp. Her hand ended up finding her pillow and repeatedly swatted at Morgana's head.

"Get off-ha, you oversized toaster oven!" Mari cackled as she swung a pillow at Morgana's face. Morgana dodged and resumed her attack until Mari howled into a fetal position.

"What are you two doing?" called the only voice that could ever instill fear into Morgana. The fire girl sharply twisted her head to face her mother, her eyes widening with surprise. "Enough Morgana, get off your sister."

"Mom, it was me. I started it." Mari hiccuped as she sat up, trying to sober herself. Morgana returned to her bed with a plop and picked up her textbook. She didn't care about the subject, but even math would be better than hearing her mother's scolding. "We were just having fun."

"Morgana, you're grounded. You're not supposed to be having fun and what is-" her mother paused to look at the popcorn covered floor. "You were doing it again weren't you?" she accused with a frown.

"It was me mom-" Mari interjected.

"Mari go downstairs." her mother demanded.

"But-"

"Now Mari."

A sullen frown pouted her sister's cheeks. By her darkening eyes and crossed arms, Morgana could tell that Mari was about to attempt defiance and stand her ground.

"Go ahead Mari. No sense on both of us being grounded." Morgana shrugged, her eyes softening a fraction as they held her sister's furious ones. Mari had no qualms in standing up for her, but this was a battle she'd never win. With a sullen pout, Mari nodded and gathered her homework in her arms. "Just because Morgana's different doesn't mean she has to be treated like an animal." Mari snapped hotly as she left the room, slamming the door behind her with enough force to cause the light fixture above their heads to flicker and sway.

"Mari." her mother groaned sharply to herself. Life had blessed her with two very defiant and headstrong daughters. If she wasn't on lockdown, Morgana would've almost felt sorry for her...almost.

"Morgana this has to stop." her mother began as she rubbed her temple in frustration. "You can't keep doing this."

"Doing what? Being myself?" Morgana questioned hotly.

"You have no control over what you are!" Her mother reasoned. Anger like the lava she controlled boiled in her chest at the burn of her mother's words. To say she had no control was nothing less than insulting.

Her mother had no idea how much technique it took to manipulate magma while diverting the scalding heat away from her clothes to keep them from combusting into flames. Sure she realized there was room to grow, but to make the claim that she was completely incompetent in reigning in her ability was an outright lie.

"What am I mom? A monster?" Morgana spat acridly as her fists balled in her lap. "Is that what I am?"

"Morgana, no. You are..."

"A monster." she finished with a darkened scowl towards her mother. "You want to say it don't you?"

"No Morgana." her mother said angrily. "That's not what you are."

"That's how you treat me." Morgana countered.

"Morgana you know you can't use your power. It's too dangerous."

"For who?"

"Morgana you know why. Do you want them to come and take you away like they did Roy?"

This wasn't the first time her mother used this tactic to try and strike fear in her heart towards the use of her abilities. While the boogeymen who took her best friend and fellow mutant Roy away were real, there was no guarantee that those same men were tracking her. She'd used her abilities dozens of times since they moved to New York, and no secret government anyone had stumbled upon her yet.

Thinking back to it, exposing herself to a room full of thugs probably wasn't her smartest idea. It felt good at the time in the spirit of bravado, but fifty some guys making a claim about a girl who could create magma wouldn't help her if the authorities caught on. Then again, who'd believe a bunch of blazed gangbangers anyway?

Her bed dipped as her mother sat down beside her. "Morgana I don't know what else to do." she whispered hoarsely in defeat. "We can't move again. We-I can't afford it. As it is I'm making barely enough to cover our living expenses. What should I do? Morgana, how do I get through to you?"

Hopeless. Her mother sounded absolutely hopeless. Rather than sympathy, Morgana only felt bitter anger. She understood the dangers of discovery. Roy's disappearance was enough to convince her of that. However, to completely deny that she could manipulate magma was unrealistic. How long would she be forced to live in the shell of humanity when so much raw power burned deep within her bones?

"Mom I can't hide what I am." Morgana answered truthfully. "I like what I can do. It makes me different, special. I'm strong like this."

"Morgana I love you, but people won't accept you for what you are." her mother reasoned quietly as she placed her hand over Morgana's fist. "If you want to have a good, safe life, you can't use your powers."

Morgana's head bowed and she allowed her orange hair to curtain her scowling face from her mother. At her silence Mrs. Wright only wiped her eyes and stood. "Finish your homework." she said wearily as she closed the door behind her. Morgana snapped the book in her hand shut and threw it across the room until it hit the wall with a satisfying 'thunk'.

In the eyes of her own mother she was nothing more than a problem to be contained. Morgana knew her mother loved her, but what kind of love forced her to hide the best part of her? It wasn't her fault that she could manipulate magma, so why was she the one suffering?

Well, Morgana had every intention of relieving her of that burden. Maybe a "good, safe life" wasn't what she needed. Maybe it wasn't who she was. In a furious rush, Morgana snatched her backpack and dumped its contents onto her bed.

Morgana stuffed her bag with a spare set of jeans, two pairs of socks, two of her favorite t-shirts and a hoodie. Taking her wallet from her nightstand, she shoved it into the side pocket of her cargo pants. After securing her hair into a ponytail, Morgana went to the window and pushed it upwards.

Life would be better for them without her, she decided. Her mother wouldn't be forced to work as hard or worry so much. It was harder to convince herself that Mari would be okay. Her sister was strong though, she'd get through it.

With resolve burning in her eyes, Morgana leapt from the window onto the firescape and into the night.


	5. Chapter 5: Missing Persons

**Author's Note:**

 _Disclaimer: The events within this fic' don't follow cannon and are set loosely around season 2 of the TMNT 2012 series.  
_

* * *

 **Cold  
** Chapter 5: Missing Persons

Leo hesitantly stood before the entrance to Splinter's room. Many thoughts concerning the enemies he and his brother faced circled through his mind with no resolve. The Kraang, the Foot, the Purple Dragons, and now a magma mutant. All of it proved troubling and left Leo at a loss. Each enemy proved to be a threat to the people of New York, but knowing which one to target was what left him confused.

"Only a thief darkens a doorway unannounced. Come in Leo." Splinter beckoned from within his chamber. With a breath for strength, Leo moved inside the sparsely furnished room to kneel before his sensei with his head bowed.

"What is troubling you?" Splinter asked perceptively, his ever intense gaze on his adopted son.

"Sensei, I need help. There's a lot of trouble in New York right now, and I'm not sure what to do. Everything is in danger, but there's only four of us– we can't fight all of it at once. I–I just don't know what to focus on. What should I do?."

"Hmm." Splinter nodded. "When a storm rages, it is difficult to identify the true threat. Is it the rain that will chill you? The dangerous winds that send dangerous projectiles whipping through the air? Is it the lightning that may strike and leave you paralyzed? Flooding? Landslides?"

"All of them are a threat sensei! How do I know which one to deal with first?"

"True, like a storm if you do not stop it it will leave destruction in its wake. However, neither can you conquer all of the elements at once. Tell me, which enemy is the greatest threat?"

"That's what I'm asking you." Leo said in helpless frustration as his eyes searched his sensei's eyes for answers.

"Leonardo, if Michelangelo were to attack you, would you feel threatened?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"Uh...because it's Mikey. He's not exactly the toughest out of us all."

"So you wouldn't feel threatened because he's not strong?"

"Well yeah."

"Then what about Raphael? Would he pose a threat?"

"Well yeah. I mean, Raph's no joke in a fight." he answered remembering the ferocity of his crimson clad brother.

"So in your eyes, Raphael is a threat and Mikey isn't, is this correct?"

"Yeah, I would say so..."

"Why?"

"Well, I know I can beat Mikey–"

"Why are you so confident of this?

"Because I know how to take him down." Leo answered, feeling impatient at his sense's line of questioning.

"And what of Raphael?"

"With Raph I'm not as sure..."

"Why is that?" Splinter asked patiently, taking a slow sip of the tea beside him.

"Because, Raph is just stronger. I don't know what to expect from him in a fight."

"So you feel confident against Michelangelo because you know how to defeat him and less confident concerning Raphael because you are unsure of the path to victory."

"Yes sensei." Leo affirmed tersely. "I know how to beat-oh." he breathed as he started to follow what his sensei was hinting at. "So are you saying that the biggest threat is the one unknown?"

"You know what Karai is capable of and the same for these Purple Dragons. What is unknown is the Kraang. the magma mutant and their intentions."

Nodding in agreement, Leo processed the given knowledge. Karai and the Foot were problems, but ones that Leo and his brothers could manage. The Kraang and the magma mutant? Less so. If the Kraang somehow managed to control a walking volcano, it would ultimately be devestating to his city.

"Thanks sensei." Leonardo nodded with a breath of relief as bowed and took his leave.

"Any time my son."

Mikey boredly clicked through another website. He glanced at the clock on the lower right hand corner of the screen. If he only he could last for 3 more minutes...screw it. He'd researched for a whole 7 minutes. That was good enough. He slammed the laptop close, jammed his headphones into his ear and hopped onto his skateboard to glide into the sewers

After such hard work, he only deserved a break right? An hour into his joy time, his phone started to buzz and he slowed his roll to flip out his phone.

"April?" he asked hesitantly, wondering if she'd been captured or if an imposter was using her phone. There was no way she'd call them, not after the bat-dad fiasco.

"Look Mikey, I'm not-"

"April it is you! Dudette I've missed you so much! The sewer has been so boring since you stopped comin' around. I mean we all were-"

"Mikey." she said with sharp warning that gave him pause. "I'm not calling because I want to talk."

"Right. Oh." he said deflated with drooping shoulders. "Nah I get it. S'cool. So, what's up?"

"Mikey, the Kraang were at a lab called Ailerex Bioengineering a few nights ago. I thought you guys should know. Tell the others."

"Yeah sure. Airmex Bio."

"Ailierex." she corrected.

"TexMex."

" _Mikey."_ she hissed.

"Don't worry April, I'll tell them. Watch your back too okay? There's a weird lava mutant on the loose."

"Thanks. Bye Mikey."

By the time he said his goodbye, April had already hung up. With a sigh, Mikey flipped his board and headed back home. After inaudibly knocking on the door to Donatello's lab, Mikey let himself in noting the colorful glass contraptions across the table.

"Mikey what are you doing here?" Donnie snapped as he lifted his head from his workbench, spotting his brightly colored brother instantly. "You know you're not allowed. Get out!"

Mikey shrugged with an inward smile as he turned on his heel. "Sure, I guess I'll wait till Leo and Raph come back to tell them what April said."

"April? Mikey wait!" Donnie exclaimed, rising to stand and knocking his head against the lamp beside him as he did so. Mikey regarded his brother from over his shoulder to find his hand outstretched as if it could pull him back. Poor Donnie. He was like a lost hungry puppy in a room full of canned dog food. "W-what did she say?"

Mikey put his hands behind his head and turned around casually. "She said that the Kraang were attacking a lab. I think it was called Airtech, Extech, SuperMech..."

"Ailierex?" Donnie offered blandly.

"That one."

"Why would they be there?" Donatello asked to himself. "Ailerex deals mostly with earth sciences and animal testing. The Kraang researching that can't mean anything good. We need to check that out."

"What about the others?"

"Leo and Raph have been hunting down that magma-mutant. This is more important. Besides we'll go stealth. In and out."

"Awesome!" Mikey grinned, finally glad that he'd be able to contribute to something important. "When do we go?"

"Yesterday."

—

"And I'm tellin' you, we've circled this block already. That thing ain't here!" Raph argued as he trailed behind his brother. And people called him stubborn.

"Raph, judging by the trail Donnie found on the fire escape, I'm pretty sure Magmonster lives in this neighborhood."

"Magmonster?" Raph echoed with a raised brow ridge.

Leo shrugged as he leapt to the next rooftop. "Mikey named it. It was catchy."

Raph only rolled his eyes. "Anyway, that thing could be across town by now melting into a bank for all we know."

"Raph, if that were the case, we'd have heard it on the police radio." Leo reasoned in his matter-of-fact, tone. "Magmonster is obviously trying to hide its tracks."

"Obviously." Raph repeated snarkily. "Please do tell me more about this thing which you've never seen."

"Raph, knock it off. We need to stay focused–"

A sudden scream of a girl stopped them in their tracks. Leo only needed to meet his brother's eyes, and between their silent exchange, Raph knew it was 'go time'. Quickly they changed course and bolted towards the growing sounds of a girl struggling.

"Get off me!" the girl screamed. Leo descended on the girl's attackers, expertly sticking to the shadows to keep himself hidden. Raph followed suit, taking a fistfull of gravel from the roof before tossing it at the man who'd grabbed the small girl from behind. As soon as his gripped loosened on her, the brunette teen bent down to snatch the tennis racket at her feet. She instantly swung its edge into his stomach, causing the man to keel over.

"Come on let's get out of here!" yelled Thug A, as he bolted down the street. His winded partner Thug B, wasn't far behind him, as he limped away with a hand to his head and an arm around his stomach. Only the girl remained with her shoulders heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath.

"Little girl," Leo began in his booming hero voice. "It's dangerous for you to be out this late at night."

Rather than show timidity, the girl raised her chin to face the shadows. "Who's there?" she asked boldly as she raised the tennis racket to a swinging position.

"We are the guardians of this city." Leo continued. Raph only rolled his eyes. "Go home now it's–"

"Guardians? As in you watch over the city?" she asked with a hint of impatience mingling oddly with hope.

"Yes, we are the ones who stand for justice," Raph rolled his eyes at his brothers big-headed speech. "We are the–"

"Have you seen my sister?" She interjected. "She's this tall, straight extra long tic-tac orange hair, usually wears cargo pants and black shirts?"

Leo met Raph's eyes with a questioning and unsure expression. "Have you seen anyone like that?" he whispered.

"No, but get rid of her." Raph answered sharply with a nod of his temple in the direction the girl should go. The longer they talked, the more dangerous it became.

"No little girl, but I'm sure she'll turn up."

The girl's expression hardened in the face of Leo's placating encouragement. Judging by her frown, she wasn't buying it. "Look kid we're not the police." Raph said before Leo could continue. "If you got a missing sister, you should go talk to them."

The girl mumbled something under her breath. "You say something?" Raph asked, daring the girl to repeat herself. Leo swatted him on his shoulder. "Raph she's a girl!" he hissed.

"So?"

"Yeah, you so called guardians are useless!" she announced hotly.

"Weren't saying that a few minutes ago when we saved your butt from those thugs!" Raph argued.

"You can fight thugs but you can't even find a lost 17 year old girl." she shouted back, this time with an emotional crack in her voice. It was that crack that gave Raph's retort pause. The girl didn't sound stupid, so whatever had her wandering around shady neighborhoods at 10 at night probably was important.

"Your sister," Leo said, softening his voice. "How long has she been missing?"

"Three days."

"And why haven't you gone to the police?" Raph asked impatiently.

"She... has a record. If the police have to track her down, they might take her away for good."

"Why aren't your parents doing anything?" Raph pushed. They were masked ninjas, not detectives in trenchcoats.

"My mom's too scared. She's just hoping my sister will come back on her own."

"So why are you out here?"

"To do something! My sister isn't the type to wander back. If she left, then she really left."

"If she's gone for good why bother looking for her?" Raph asked, though, there wasn't any conviction in his question. If any of his brothers went missing, he'd go after them, whether they wanted to be found or not.

"Because I'm the only one who can bring her back that's why. Now, can you help or not?"

"Little girl–"

"Mari." she corrected hotly. "My name is Mari. Quit calling me a little girl."

Leo coughed an apology. "Mari, do you have a picture or any leads to where your sister may be?"

"I've got this flyer I made." said Mari as she held it up.

"Bring it to the fire escape." Leo asked as he carefully crawled down to take the paper from her smaller hand. No sooner had he grabbed it did he jump back up to the safety of the darker shadows. After looking at the flyer, Leo handed it to Raph.

The girl in the picture looked like the type of punk who'd run away. True to Mari's description, the girl wore a black t-shirt, cargo pants, and leather half gloves on her hands. "Your sister got a name?" Raph asked as he returned his attention to Mari.

"Morgana, seriously, it's on the flyer."

Raph glanced at the info scrawled beneath the picture. So it was. "What kind of name is Morgana?" he asked.

"What kind of guys hang out on rooftops acting like super heroes?" she countered defensively. Raph could tell she wasn't being aggressive just to spite them, she was being protective over her sister. As someone who did the same towards his brothers, a level of respect settled in his mind for her boldness.

"So if we find her, we call this number?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. It's my cell."

Leo looked to Raph and nodded, silently committing them to this project. Chasing down a missing statistic didn't sound too appealing to Raph, but if that's what Leo wanted, who was he to argue?

Who was he kidding, he'd argue it until Master Splinter put him in his place.

"Alright, give us a couple days, we'll try to find your sister. In the meantime, you need to go home."

"How do I know you'll do this? I don't have time to sit around wasting time."

"If we said we'll find her, we'll find her." Raph reiterated firmly..

Leo put a hand to his lip in thought before he reached to his katana and removed the blue ribbon tied around its hilt. April had given him the ribbon as a gift. "Take this." he said as he balled the cloth in his hand and tossed it towards her.

"What is this?"

"My lucky ribbon. It's very special to me. That's how you'll know we'll do it.."

"Because of a ribbon?"

"That's all I've got to prove my word."

The girl looked to the shadows and then to the ribbon in her hand. "Fine. But you've got three days before I go off on my own again."

"Not our loss if you get hurt." Raph grunted to himself.

"Thanks." the girl said with an uneven voice that tugged even on Raph's heartstrings. As tough as she acted, it was obvious to him that underneath her bravery, she was still a frightened kid. Mari smudged the base of her palm into her cheek, as she lowered her tennis racket. "Please. Please find my sister."

"We'll do our best."


End file.
